First Ghana Coffee Conference Held In The Hopes Of Making Ghana A Key Coffee Exporter.
Coffee production startups are springing up in Ghana on a quiet but strong ascent with most of these businesses harvesting locally grown coffee in the chilly and cool green mountains of Akropong and some parts of the Volta Region of Ghana. The rise in the consumption of coffee in urban spaces can be attributed to the escalation of coffee houses around the city, most of which have been strategically set up also as mini-workspaces.
The Coffee Federation of Ghana in light of this new development and global coffee demand organised the first Ghana Coffee Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Accra. The event was based under the theme; Unlocking Ghana's Opportunities in the Global Robusta Coffee Market.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Augustine Ntim was in attendance with several other high stakeholders in the coffee and agricultural industry.
In his welcome address, the president of the Coffee Federation of Ghana, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko, said that Ghana's reluctance to develop the coffee industry owing to its over-dependence on cocoa has severely deprived the nation of substantial foreign exchange over the years.
“ According to him, in 2017/2018, global Robusta coffee production amounted to about 64.89 million 60 kilogram bags, and it is projected to reach 69.55 million 60 kilogram bags in the 2018/2019 coffee season. Even with a price dip of $1,817 per tonne in the month August, one can easily realise the amount of money Ghana has lost and continues to lose as far as the global coffee 'cake' is concerned,” he stated.
According to him, Ghana can, however, make amends quickly through agricultural diversification to take her rightful place on the international coffee market without further delay.- Source ( ModernGhana.com
Video conferencing also took place with Brazilian coffee industrialists who shared insights into the viability of the Robusta coffee bean as well as other coffee varieties on the global coffee market.
I briefly attended the one-day activity packed conference to acquaint myself with the coffee startuppers in the country. However there was only one coffee startup vendor I had the opportunity of meeting.
Asili is a specialty coffee roaster startup which aims to have Africans drinking African coffee. I had a taste of their medium-roast coffee which tasted light and and delightfully fragrant.
I shared a cup with Min Ai Tan of Aiheartfoodblog who I am thankful for for tagging me on the event on Instagram. I would have totally missed it 😅.
Coffee can become a major cash crop in Ghana with the right investment and agricultural practices put in place for local farmers. Globally the consumption of coffee has risen to 2.25 billion cups per year which means the demand keeps rising year after year. It's an exciting opportunity for young agro-entrepreneurs to consider coffee farming in Ghana.
